Test mattress



T. TAYLOR TEST MATTRESS Jan. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 26, 1951 T. S. TAYLOR TEST MATTRESS Jan. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 26, 1951 Patented Jan. 19, 1954 TE ST MATTRESS ThomasfSmith'fTaylor,Caldwell, N. J., assignor to Simmons Company, New York,'N. Y., a corporation of Delaware I Application september 26, 1951, seriai no. 248,390

The present invention relates to a mattress and, more particularly, to a testmattress haying" certain variable, and controllable properties.

In order to design a mattress to meet'the divrdual requirements of various persons or to provide the greatest benefit for a selected group of persons, it would be desirable to be able to determine the combination of mattress .charac teristics which are mostv conducive to complete relaxation in the individual or individuals for whom the mattress isto be. constructed For this purpose it would be desirable to have a mattress in which the resilience of various elements or sections of the mattress could be controlled, and in whichone could" measure the'actual support supplied by each of those sections to the different parts of the body of the individual lying on the mattress.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a mattress in which the distribution of support supplied by the mattres's to the body of an individual lying on the mattress can be varied; to providea'mattress in whichthe-resiliency of the individual mattress sections can be 'addusted; to provide a mattress with'a means for measuring the actualjsupport supplied bythe mattress sections to thevarious partsof'the body of the individual lying on the mattressiland to providea-simpleeasily adjustable and infinitely Variable test mattress construction, I In the drawingsi T' Fig. l-is a partial perspective view'of the var- V 'ious portions of a test mattress constructed in' accordance with the present invention} Fig. 2 is adiagrammatic view, partly in sec tion, showing an individualmattresssectionof the resiliency and measuringthe defiectiono'ffan individual mattress. section and Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional view of an-individual mattress section :of the test mattress.

"I'he testmattress shown inthedrawings in eludes-a bed frame -5. a rriattrssfraihe-tgset within the bedv frame 5,,and a pluralitysofverlisl shown 1i: Fig. tii te a miss salami? fabricated "out of angle'iiron or the 1 like and in clufdes" vertical leg] members "a; horizontal "top eit erites eermsai regs a upper ingrmembers I0. Flat horizontal plate members I I are suitably attached .to the bottom of the le members 8 so as to permit the bed frame'5 to 1 rest securely in a horizontal position. Eachlof .,the intermediate angle iron supporting members I is positioned with one of its flange mem bers extending vertically and upwardly andthe other of .its flange members extending horizontally and inwardly of the bed frame -5so as to 7 .provide a seat for supporting the mattress frame.

6, and each of the angle iron top members 9 is:

positioned with one of its flanges extending, horizontally and outwardly of the bed frame 5 and the other of its flanges lying in the plane of the vertically extending flange of the intermediate supporting member I0 so that the inner-face ofits vertically extending flange acts as a guide for the mattress frame 6.

Themattress frame 5 may be constructed out of any suitable material; for example, plywood,

"and includes a top member I3, a bottom memis proportionedso as to fit within-the bed frame 5 with the bottom. member I4 seated on the 'in-- 1 wardly facing vhorizontal flange of the support-"- ing member III of the bed frame 5, and with the side'members'fi'of the mattress frame engaging the vertically extending flangesof the top andsupporting members 9 and I0 of the bed frame'lf.

' the testmattress and the means for; adjusting 'I'he'bottom member I4 of the mattress frame ineludes appropriately positioned circular recesses I6 and the top member of the mattress frame has superposed circular-holes H, for positioning'and "suitably supporting the mattress sections Twith- A centrally located in the mattress frame 6. passageway I8, extends through each of the cir cular recesses I5 in order topermit the lower end of the; mattress: sections 1 to be connected to suitable conduits IQfLKSee Fig. 3.) i v I 4 As; seen; in Fig: 3,- an individual mattress sectionyincludes-an external -cylinder zma piston 2| which is slidable within the cylinde'r zfl, a resilient bellows 22 which is elosed at' its'upper end and which is" fastened adjacent its lower edge to the upper end of the externa1 cylinder 20, a flat insert or disc 30 Whichis positioned'between -the upper end of thepiston-ZI and the upper end of the bellows 22,- and a restraining jacket 23 which surrounds the bellows 22 and following detailed description'is made'with reference to the construction of just one of the mattress sections 1.

The external cylinder 20 of the mattress section 1 is fabricated of metal or the like and has a closed bottom end 24 which is seated in a recess 16 in the bottom member 14 of the mattress frame. The conduit ISL-which extends through the passageway 13 in the bottom member 14 of the mattress frame 3 is connected to the external cylinder by welding to the bottom end 24. upper end of the cylinder 20 extends a slight distance above the upper member 13 of the mattress frame 6 to facilitate the'attachment to the cylinder of the bellows 22 and restraining jacket 23.

Each cylinder 23 is provided with a piston 2| which is constructed out of light material such as plastic or the like and is preferably in theyform of a hollow vertical tube 25 with a closed upper end 26. The outer diameter of the tube 25 is such as to permit the piston 21 to slide .freely within the external cylinder 23 and the piston 21 is suitably enclosed by a vertically extending resilient bellows 22 so as to prevent gas from escaping from the upper end of the mattress section 1.

The bellows 22 is made of a resilient material such as rubber or the like and is proportioned to fit over the cylinder 20 and the piston .21 as shown in Fig. 3. The bellows 22 has a series of circumferential convolutions 21 which permits vertical extension of the bellows 22. The bellows has a closed upper end 28 and a downwardly extending collar section 29 at its base for connection to the external cylinder 20. A flat inflexible disc 33 made of a light material such as aluminum, is attached to the inside of the bellows 22 at its upper end 28 by means of cement or the like, in order to prevent the upper end 28 of the bellows 22 from bulging outwardly. The bellows 22 is positioned over the upper end of the piston 21 by attaching the inner-face of disc 30 to the upper end 26 of the piston 21 by means such as screws, rivets, or cement. The collar section 29 at the base of the bellows 22 is attached to the upperend of the external cylinder 20 by.

suitable means such as a hose clamp 3| and rubber-to-metal cement. This construction provides an air tight joint between the bellows 22 and external cylinder 20.

In order to limit the upward extension of the bellows 22 the bellows is enclosed with a tubularv restraining jacket 23 which is made of light flexible material such as cloth and has a closed upper end 32 which is engaged by the upper surface 28 of the bellows 22. The lower end of the cylindrical restraining jacket 23 has slits 33 which permit the restraining jacket 23 to be anchored along with the bellows 22 to the external cylinder 20 by the-hose clamp 31 without bunching-up. The restraining jacket 23 is light enough so that it does not hinder the movement of the bellows, 22 when the bellows 22 is below its upper limiting position.

The means for adjusting the resiliency in an individual mattress section 1 is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 2. Since all of the mattress sections 1 are adjusted in a similar manner, the adjusting means for only one of the mattress, sections 1 will be described in detail;

The mattress section 1 is connected by the con: duits or tubing 19 and 33 to a vertically extending cylindrical expansion tank 34. By filling this tank 34 with different amounts of water, the volume of air in the system is changed, which in The can be completely drained from the expansion tank 34.

The expansion tank 34 may be connected to a source -.of pressure gas (not shown) through the conduit 35,, manifold 541, and valves 42 and 43, or to the atmosphere through the conduit 35, manifold 4|, conduit 44, and valves 42 and 45. The conduit 35 is preferably connected to the expansion .tank adjacent its upper end so as to permit the maximum amount of water to enter the expansion tank without having water enter the mattress section 1. t V

In order to indicate the gas pressure within the system the conduit '35 is connected to a pressure gage 46 through an interconnecting conduit 41. Since there are no valves in that portion of the conduits 41, 3'5, and 19 which connect the pressure gage 4.6 with the expansion tank 34 and the mattress section 1, the pressure gage '43 will at all times register the gas pressure within the system.

A glass sight gage 48 parallels the expansion tank 34 and connects to the manifolds 36 and 41 through the valves 49 and '50 so as to provide a simple method of indicating the amount of water within the expansion tank 34. When the valves Ell and 42 at the upper ends of the sight gage 43 and the expansion tank 34, and the valves 49 and 31 at the lower ends of the sight gage 48 and the expansion tank 34 are in open position the height of the water within the sight gage 48 will indicate the water level in the expansion tank 34.

The mattress section 1 may be adjusted in the following manner. Starting with all of the valves closed the valves 42, 50, and 45 are opened so as to connect the expansion tank 34 and sight gage 48 to the atmosphere, the valve 31 is then opened connecting the expansion tank to the manifold and, finally, the valve 38 is opened allowing water to run into the expansion tank 34. During this operation the valve 43 at the bottom of the sight gage 48 should remain closed otherwise the water might rise more rapidly within the sight gage 45 than within the expansion tank 34 and might enter the conduits 35, 41, and 19 which are connected to the pressure gage 46 and mattres section 1. When a volume or water height reading is desired, the water entering the expansion tank 34 is stopped by closing valve 38 and the valve 49 at the bottom of the sight gage 48 is opened. Since the valves 42, 45, and 5 0 are open, gas escapes from the top of the expansion tank 34 and sight gage 48 to atmosphere as water enters the expansion tank 34 and sight gage 48. The amount of water within the expansion tank 34 will determine the resiliency of the mattress section 1.

When the properamount of water has run into the expansion tank 34 the .valve 33 is closed. The gas pressure within the system is then raised by closing the valve 45 which connects the system to the atmosphere and opening the valve 43 which connects the manifold 4| to the source of gas pressure. As air pressure enters. the system the bellows 22 will be extended until its upper end encounters the topuof ihabuiemibt position (if the restraining jacket 23. The purpose of the air pressureis to. produce ,a given extension ofgthe bellows22. .When the desired bellows extension is reached, the valve 43 is closed. e

the expansion tank 34 so that one can read the pressure gage 46 and convert to deflection and force by the use. of the appropriate curves.

The individual expansion tanks 34 which eon nect to themattress sections 1 of thetest mattress are assembled in a convenient frame-work 5| which permits an operator to gain ready access to the operating valves in the system. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure, 1, the frame-work is fabricated outof angle-iron and is comprised of banks 52 separated by a wooden cat-walk 53 which is located at a convenient height so as to permit an operator to reach the valves at the upper endof the expansion tanks 34. Each bank 52 is constructed in tiered form so that the operator can easily manipulate the valves in the various tiers.

In placing the individual expansion tanks 34 within the frame-work it is desirable to place the expansion tanks 34 which connect to a single row of mattress sections I of the testmattress in the same tier, since it is often desirable to have a similar degree of resiliency within the mattress sections I in the same row. The lower ends of the expansion tanks 34 within the same tier of a bank are connected to a common manifold 35 and a single sight gage 48. The single sight gage 48 can be used to provide an indication of the water level either in all of the expansion tanks 34 in the tier or in a particular. expansion tank 34 within the tier. As previously noted, each of the expansion tanks 34 includes a valve 42. which provide a means of closing oil that particular expansion tank 34 from the tier mani-v fold 35. the expansion tanks 34are connected'to the bank: manifolds 5.4 through the valves 55., Each of the bank manifolds are connectedeither to the source of water or to the drain through the conduits '55 and 51 and the valves 58, 59, and 60. The tier manifolds 4| at the upper end of the expansion tanks 34 are connected in a similar manner to bank manifolds. and thence either to a source of pressure gas or te'the atmosphere through appropriate conduits and valves (not shown).

In adjusting the system the desired bank manifold valve is opened and then the appropriate tier manifold valves are opened. By opening or 7 closing the valves which connect to the individual expansion tanks 34 either one or all of the expansion tanks in a particular tier may be adjusted.

The gages 4B are suitably positioned within a gage panel 6! behind the framework 5| so as to be easily read by an operator as he stands on the cat-walk 53. In this position the operator can manipulate the valves which regulate the gas pressure within the expansion tanks 34 and/or read the pressures of the gages 46.

During operation the resiliencyof each of the mattress sections 1 are appropriately adjusted by regulating the water levels within the ex- It is, desirable to plot curves of The tier manifolds .36 at the bottom of 5 The buoyancyof the mattress section 1 may 6'2 pansion tanks" 34: 1*" Thefinatti'essfsections 1 are ver d by a witc e A ht pad 62 of any suitable" material. suchlasiqemam bsr el ina the like;

,When a person liesf'down on the'mattress, the de'-' fiections of .the'mattre'ss sections 1 can be obtamed by noting theipres'sure readings of the ases 6 and'convertingtheseto deflections by the use of the appropriate pressure-deflection curves. Iftheforce' exerted on eachof the mat- "tress'sectionsl is desired, these maybe obtained in a similar mannerl from appropriate pressure vs. forcecur'ves; j It should be realized thatthe manner of varying the resiliency of themattress sections 1 might be accomplished in 'other'ways than that de scribed above without 1 departing from the scope of thisinvention. flFIo'r example, the gas volume Within each of theexpansion tanks might be kept constant and the amount of gas within the system varied, or the amount of gas within the systembould be kept constant and the gas volume within each of the expansion tanks varied.

The test mattress described above is simple in I construction and operation and provides a mattress in which the resiliency of the mattress sections is adjustable. 'Iii addition, each of the mattress sections is connected to individual gages which provide a means for indicating the .actual support supplied by the individual mattress sections to any object resting on the mattress. a V a Various features of the 'i'n'veritionwhich are believed to benew are set 'furth inthe appended claims,

rc aim; 7 p Q f f 1.. An apparatus of the type described includ ing a frame, a plurality of vertically extending inflatable resilient members arrangedin and sup- I ported. bysaidiframe'each of said resilient members being connected through co'nduit means to an expansion tank, means includingsai'd expansion tank for varying the resiliency of each of said members and means communicating with each, o 1f said ,meinbers fur measuring the 7 force exerted oneach'of said members.

2. An apparatus'of the type described including, a frame, a plurality of vertically extending hollow 1'esilie nt' members arranged in and supportedbysaidirame,the interior of each of said resilient members. being'connected through conduiti means; to ,anindiyidual expansion tank, means forvaryin'g the eifective volume in each of said expansion tanks; means for varying the quantity, "or gasjineach of said expansion tanks,

conduits, i and members, thereby permitting an adjustment of the resiliency of. each of said members,. .and means communicating with each of saidim'ernbers"fonmeasuringthe force exerted on eachbf saidin'embers. i

3. An apparatus of the type described including a frame, a plurality of vertically extending resilient members arranged in and supported by said frame, each of said resilient members including an enclosed compressible volume of gas, each of said enclosed volumes of gas being connected through conduit means to a separate expansion tank, means for filling each of said expansion tanks with a predetermined quantity of liquid so as to change the effective volume within said tanks, means for varying the quantity of gas in each of said expansion tanks, connecting conduits, and compressible volumes, thereby permitting an adjustment of the resiliency of each of said members, and means communicating with we s? 7 each of said members for measuring the force exerted on each of said members.

4. An apparatus of the type described including a frame, a plurality of vertically extending resilient mattress sections arranged in and supported by said frame, each of said resilient mattress sections including an enclosed compressible volume of gas, each of said enclosed volumes of gas being connected through conduit means to a separate expansion tank, means for filling each of said expansion tanks with a predetermined quantity of liquid so as to change the effective volume within said tanks, each of said expansion tanks being connected through conduit means to a sight gage for indicating the amount of liquid in each of said tanks, means for varying the quantity of gas in each of said connecting expansion tanks, conduits, and compressible volumes, thereby permitting an adjustment of the resiliency of I each of said mattress sections and means communicating with each of said mattress sections for measuring the force exerted on each of said mattress sections.

5. An apparatus of the type described including a frame, a plurality of vertically extending resilient mattress sections arranged inand supported by said frame, each of said resilient mattress sections including an enclosed compressible volume of gas, each of said enclosed volumes of gas being connected through conduit means to a separate expansion tank, means for filling each of said expansion tanks with a predetermined quantity of liquid so as to change the effective volume within said tanks, means for varying the quantity of gas in each of said connecting expansion tanks, conduits, and compressible volumes, thereby permitting an adjustment of the resiliency of each of said mattress sections, means attached to each of said mattress sections for measuring the force exerted on each of said mattress sections, and a pressure gage communicating with each of said mattress sections for measuring the pressure in said mattress sections.

6. An apparatus of the type described including a frame, a plurality of vertically extending resilient mattress sections arranged in and supported by said frame, each of said mattress sec- 1 tions comprised of a vertically extending cylinder, a piston slidable within said cylinder, the upper end of said piston extending upwardly of said cylinder, a resilient bellows enclosing the upper end of said cylinder and that portion of said piston which extends above said cylinder, said bellows being attached to the outer face of said cylinder adjacent the upper edge thereof, the upper end of said bellows being closed, said closed end having its interior side attached to the upper end of said piston for vertical movement therewith, means for limiting the upward extension of said bellows, each of said resilient mattress sections including an enclosed compressible volume of gas, each of said enclosed volumes of gas being connected through conduit means to a separate expansion tank, means for varying theresiliency of each of said mattress sections and means communicating with each of said mattress sections for measuring the force exerted on each of said mattress sections.

'7. An apparatus of the type described including a frame, a plurality of vertically extending resilient mattress sections arranged in and supported by said frame, each of said mattress sections comprised of a vertically extending cylinder, a piston slidable within said cylinder, the upper end of said piston extending upwardly of said cylinder, a resilient bellows enclosing the upper end of said cylinder and that portion of said piston which extends above said cylinder, said bellows being attached to the outer face of said cylinder adjacent the upper edge thereof, the upper end of said bellows being closed, said closed end having its interior side attached to the upper end of said piston for vertical move" ment therewith, a; restraining jacket which surrounds said bellows and limits the upward extension of said bellows, each of said resilient mattress sections including an enclosed compressible volume of gas, each of said enclosed volumes of gas being connected through conduit means to a separate expansion tank, means for filling each of said expansion tanks with a predetermined quantity of liquid so as to change the effective volume within said tanks, each of said expansion tanks being connected through conduit means to a sight gage for indicating the amount of liquid in each of said tanks, me'ansfor varying the quantity of gas in each of said connecting expansion tanks, conduits, and compressible volumes, thereby permitting an adjustment of the resiliency or" each of said mattress sections, means attached to each of said mattress sections for measuring the force exerted on each of said mattress sections, and a pressure gage communicating with each of said mattress sections for measuring the pressure in each of said mattress sections. 7

THOMAS SMITH TAYLOR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,095,268 Roberts a M Got. 12, 1937 2,378,039 Schenker June 12, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 475,000 Germany Apr. 18, 1929 

